When audiovisual content items are to be protected by means of encryption, it is common practice to maintain a data entity, referred to as content license (at least logically) separately from the content item itself. The content license contains protection related metadata for the content item such as usage rules settings and the content decryption key.
When defining a common system for the protection and management of audiovisual content in the consumer environment it is necessary to identify each content item that is acquired into that system uniquely. This is necessary in order to be able to reliably associate a content license with the associated content item of audiovisual content within said system. Due to the expected large number of devices able to acquire content into such system it appears to be excessively burdensome to devise a new system for content identification that is specific for that system.
Content acquired from many different sources or content providers, e.g. broadcast, DRM or packaged media enters a common system for its protection and management. Each of these content delivery channels could apply a different identification scheme of identifying individual content items.
So there is a need for a uniform method to associate every content license in the system to the associated content item uniquely, by whatever channel, and hence with whatever original content identification scheme and original content identifier the original content was delivered.
Content protection and management systems might operate within one of many home network ecosystems, therefore it needs its own independent method to identify individual items of content.
Such a common content management and protection system is, for example, the proposed DVB-CPCM (Digital Video Broadcast-Content Protection and Copy Management System). The Reference Model of the DVB-CPCM System is disclosed in DVB Blue Book A094, published November 2005. It describes a generic content license, but does not disclose the methods for managing content within the DVB-CPCM System. In particular, the data entities “Content Instance Identifier” as content item identifier and “Content License Creator” are disclosed, but their mode of function and exact meaning are not disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for determining a unique content instance identifier for each content item handled in a content management system, wherein said content item has been received from one of a plurality of content providers and/or content delivery channels and has been identified by said one of a plurality of content providers with an original content identifier within an original identification scheme.
The wording “content management system” is used throughout this description in embodiments in which the system is dealing mainly with managing content items without specifying whether a protection scheme is implemented or not, whereas the wording “content management and protection system” is used with respect to embodiments, in which the protection features are emphasized, e.g. with content licenses. However, in a “content management system” as used within this description also protection schemes might be implemented.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device for determining a unique content instance identifier for each content item handled in a content management and protection system, wherein said content item has been received from one of a plurality of content providers and/or content delivery channels and has been identified by said one of a plurality of content providers with an original content identifier within an original identification scheme.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a unique content instance identifier format for each content item handled in a content management and protection system, wherein said content item has been received from one of a plurality of content providers and/or content delivery channels and has been identified by said one of a plurality of content providers with an original content identifier within an original identification scheme.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method and a device for managing content licenses in a content management and protection system in the consumer environment, wherein content items are handled.